Unilever (ULVR) chief executive Paul Polman is so confident the consumer goods giant will be able to stick to its 3 to 5 per cent target for underlying sales growth that he’s increased the dividend by 8 per cent, in addition to a €6bn (£5.2bn) share buyback. During the first quarter this goal was met, with 3.4 per cent underlying sales growth, or 3.7 per cent once you strip out the now sold spreads business, with growth across all three core divisions.
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What’s also encouraging is that revenue growth over the period came mainly from an increase in volumes sold as opposed to reliance on price increases. Mr Polman said the “connected 4 Growth” programme is also on track, exemplified by the 4 per cent volume growth in emerging markets.
